Nadal defeats Nishikori in straight sets at Indian Wells

Sport360 staff 09:33 19/03/2016
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  • Rafael Nadal won 62% of his first serve points.

    World No5 Rafael Nadal overpowered Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-3 to reach the Indian Wells semifinals Saturday.

    The swashbuckling Spaniard is looking for another stamp in his championship passport, having already won the joint ATP and WTA Tour tournament title in 2007, 2009 and 2013.

    Nadal had just two aces but he really took care of his serve by winning 62 percent of his first-serve points and breaking Nishikori four times.

    He closed out the 93-minute match with a forehand down the line that Nishikori stumbled after but came nowhere close to getting a racquet on.

    Nadal improved to 8-1 lifetime against Nishikori and avenged a loss in their most recent prior meeting last year at Montreal.

    The Nadal-Nishikori contest kicked off a star-studded quarterfinal day at Indian Wells featuring four of the world’s top 10 players.

    The Mallorcan said: “The serve was great today, but without a doubt the crowd is always much better.

    It’s been a very positive week for me here because of the crowd.

    “The first set was very important. At 15-40 for one double break for him, that was the key moment and after that I started to play with higher balls, slower balls.

    “I changed a little bit the rhythm of the match and I think I played well.”

    Nadal will face the winner of last night’s other quarter-final between world No1 Novak Djokovic and France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for a spot in the championship match.

    Nadal and Djokovic are nearly even in their 47 head-to-head meetings, with the Serb owning a 24-23 edge. Nadal has beaten Tsonga eight times in 12 matches.

    Nadal is also hoping to put to bed speculation that he is on a downward spiral. He has won 14 career grand slam titles but none in the past 18 months.

    The second semi-final at Indian Wells will be contested by Belgian David Goffin and big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic, who had each won their matches in the last eight on Thursday.

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